Event to highlight breast-feeding’s benefits

Adjoa Taylor is no stranger to breast-feeding. The mother of five is well versed in the advantages of nursing for her children. But what she discovered were the benefits for herself.

Adjoa Taylor, here with her daughter, Noelle, will share her experiences breastfeeding during the upcoming Big Latch On event.

“We all hear about how breast-feeding is good for newborns,” said Taylor. “But if I was a new mom and wasn’t sure if I wanted to nurse, I would also love for someone to talk to me about what the benefits were for me.

“I have been lactating for 10 years and during that time I have made a conscious effort to take care of my body and my well-being. I am more aware of what I am eating and drinking. I am the food source for my child, so I must be in good health too.”

It is this type of information that Taylor, along with a host of other mothers, will share during an event called the Big Latch On.

On Aug. 2 and 3, groups of breast-feeding women will come together at registered locations around the world and simultaneously nurse.

The local event, sponsored by the Nashville Breastfeeding Coalition, will be held at Vanderbilt Health One Hundreds Oaks from 10 a.m. to noon. Breast-feeding will begin at 10:30. (Participants are urged to use Entrance D to be directed to the event site).

“It really is a fun event,” said Anna Morad, M.D., director of the Newborn Nursery at the Monroe Carell Jr Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. “People have asked ‘why would you want to have an event specifically aimed at breast-feeding in public?’

“We have normalized bottle feeding and you don’t think twice about it. We want to reshape the thinking so that breast-feeding is the norm and people don’t think twice about that either.”

This will be the second time Nashville Breastfeeding Coalition has sponsored the Big Latch On. Last year’s event was held at Hadley Park. Organizers are hoping to increase the number of participants and possibly break a record.

In 2012 as part of the Big Latch On, 8,862 women and their children worldwide came together and simultaneously breast-fed.

The event was first started in New Zealand in 2005 in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week. It was introduced in Portland, Ore., in 2010 and is now a global effort.

For Elizabeth Cook, breastfeeding was an accomplishment she wanted to celebrate.

“It was something that I was really proud of,” said Cook. “It felt really good to get together with a host of other women who were charging forward with this accomplishment. It is hard work and it is a commitment.

“I am really excited about this year’s event. It’s a great feeling to be encouraged by others and supported.”